Cane mill



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` F. FARREL, .JR

CANE MILL Filed June 26, 1924 l @Il I (QI d Patented `lan. l, i929.

FRANKLIN FARREL, JR., OF NEW HAVEN,

CGNNECTCUT, ASSEGNOR, BY MESNE AS- CANE Application filed Pune 26,

This invention relates to cane grinding machinery, such as employedforthe ext-raction of juice from sugar cane. ln some ofits aspects it isparticularly applicable to mills having a plurality of pairs ofsoecalled preliminary crushing rolls, which are arranged in front of oneor more stands of juice expressing rolls. rlhe invention is particularlyconcerned with mills or grinding apparatus of the general character setforth in my prior application, Serial No. 145,527 tiled February 16,1921.

One of the primary obje-cts of my invention is to increase theeiliciency of the grinding or crushing of cane stalks. l

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine in which the caneis'preliminarily crushed and squeezed more effectively than in formerpractice, so that the stalks will be more thoroughly disintegrated andlaid open and the fibres more thoroughly squeezed or pressed forexpressing the juice from the libres.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel featuresand combination of parts to bev hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

F ig. 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a cane mill embodying myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

ln the mill shown in Fig. 1 l have illustrated a preliminary crusher Aarranged before a juice expressing mill B, the Crusher comprising twopairs C and D of rolls designed to crush and shred the cane stalks priorto the delivery thereof to the mill B. The number of pairs ofpreliminary crushing rolls may be varied as desired, but in theparticular embodiment now under discussion it may be assumed for 4thepurposes of description that the raw cane as it comes from the iield isdelivered to the rolls of the crusher C by a suit-able conveyor andchute (not shown). The cane is drawn in and crushed by the rolls 10 and11 of the Crusher C so as to split open the stalks and separate thelibres to some extent, and is then carried over suitableinclined-runways, (not shown) to the second crusher D having the rolls12 and 13, which further crush and shred the stalks and also express apart of the juice MILL.

1924:. Serial No. 722,515.

therefrom, as will be hereinafter explained. The cane moves from theCrusher D over the usual inclined bed which l have not deemed itnecessary to illustrate, and enters between tliei'ollsll'and 15 of thefirst roll stand of the mill B. rFliese rolls express a port-ion of thejuice from the cane, which, it leaves them, is deflected upwardly in thecustomary manner so as to pass between the roll 14C and a lower roll 1ocommonly known as the ba gasse roll. lt will be, of course, understoodthat the mill B may, and usually will, comprise a plurality of threeroll mill stands, such as the one shown, through which'the cane passesin order, in accordance with the usual practice.

The crushing rolls may be of any approved type 4but preferably they willbe provided with teeth for hooking or drawing in the cane so that thelatter' will befed into the machine uniformly and expeditiously. ln theembodiment under discussion, the rolls 10 and 11 are provided with aplurality of annular or circumferential grooves 10a and 11a which are.substantially V-shaped in cross section. The provision of thecircumferentially ll-shaped grooves of the rolls creates correspondinglyshaped ridges or ribs, and the ribs of the upper crusher roll aredesigned to enter the grooves of the lower crusher roll with a certainamountof clearance, as is customary.

In order to provide teeth for hooking into the cane stalks and drawingthem into the machine, the preferred practice is to out a plurality ofgenerally longitudinally extending grooves 1()b and 11b in'each of thecrusher rolls 10 and l1, these grooves intersecting the transverse orcircumferential grooves. The cross sectional shape of the longitudinalgrooves just described, can be seen in llig. 2. l/Vhile, however, thesegrooves are longitudinal in a general sense, they are preferably notexactly parallel to the axis of the roll; in fact, it is considered thebest practice to provide an obtuse angle in each lengthwise groove, asshown at 10C in F ig. 1. ln other words, a slightly inclined grooveextending from one end of the roll to the center or thereabouts, meetsat the latter point a similar groove inclined in the opposite directionand extending to the other end of the roll. These grooves may beinclined at an angle of say 10O to the roll axis, as such an arrangementhas given very good results in practice.

The second pair of crusher rolls 12 and 13 are. of the same generalcharacter as tne rolls 10 and 11, and are provided with teeth of asimilar type, although the pitch of the circumferential grooves is lessthan that of the circumferential grooves of the first pair of rolls. Thenumber of longitudinal grooves is the same in both pairs. The rolls 12and 13 are provided Wit-h a series of circumferential il-shaped grooves12"L and 13 smaller in size than the corresponding grooves 10 and 111Lof tl e rolls 10 and 11. However, in spite of the fact that the rolls ofthe second pair have circumferential ribs of less pitch, the number oflongitudinal grooves is the same, so that the juice expressing surfaceis relatively increased.

The roll shafts 17, 18, 19 and 2G are provided with intermeshing gears21, 22, 23 and 24, as customary.

lt Will be obvious that when the cane stalks are presented to the firstpair of Crusher rolls, they will be expeditiously and effectively drawnin betiveen these rolls by reason ofthe teeth formed by the longitudinalgrooves in the roll surface. n the second pair of rolls the cane stalksivill be broken up and shredded to a vstill greater extent. Owing to thefact that the longitudinal grooves of the second Crusher are widelyspaced, in spite of the use of relatively fine circumferential groovesthe juice expressing action of the rolls of the second pair Will beconsiderable, as Well as the shredding action.

lifhile l have shown and described a preferred embodiment of myinvent-ion, it is to be understood that it is not limited to all thedetails shown, but is capable of modification and variation Within thespirit of the invention and Within the scope of the appended claims.

iiifhat I claim is:

1. ln a cane mill, the combination of a three-roll mill, pairs ofcrushing rolls in front of said mill, the rolls of both pairs being`provieed ivith intersecting circumferential and longitudinal grooves,and the longitudinal grooves of the second pair beingof th .sainespacing as the longitudinal grooves of the first pair whereby thecircumferential dimension of the teeth is the same, the pitch of thecireun'iferent-ial grooves being different in the respective pairs.

2. ,in a cane mill, a. plurality of pairs of crushing rolls having'circumferential ribs, said ribs arranged to interinesh, the pitch of theribs of the second pair being less than that of the ribs of the firstpair, both pairs of rolls being also provided with longitudinal grooves,and the longitudinal grooves of the second pair being ivide apart as thelongitudinal grooves of the first pair.

ln a. cane mill, the combination of a juice expressing mill, pairs ofcrushing rolls in front of said mill, sai-d pairs arranged intandem, therolls of both pairs being provided With circumferential V-shaped groovesand with longitudinal grooves intersecting said circumferential groovesand forming teeth for hooking or drawing in the cane, all of the Crusherrolls being of substantially the same diameter, and the longitudinalgrooves of the second pair being of the saine spaeing as thelongitudinal grooves of the first pair, whereby the circumferentialdimension of the teeth is the saine, the pitch of thel circumferentialgrooves in the second pair being substantially less than that of thecircumferential grooves of the first pair.

t In a cane mill, theV combination of a plurality of pairs of crushingrolls arranged in tandem, the rolls of both pairs being provided ivithcircumferential V-shaped grooves and with longitudinal groovesintersecting' the circumferential grooves to form teeth, the teeth ofthe rolls of the second pair having the same circunifcnential dimensionas those of the rst pair, but being greater in number than those of thefirst pair.

ln Witness whereof l have hereunto set my hand this 23rd day ofJune,1924-.

FRAHKLN FARREL Jn.

